The Liberal Party of Canada has chosen Mark Carney as its new leader and, as the party in power, will swear him in as the country’s new Prime Minister of Canada. The election came as a surprise and interests north and south of the border are curious to see how Carney responds to the escalating trade war with the U.S.
During a Liberal Party leadership vote in Montreal on Sunday, Carney received nearly 86 percent of the vote to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced he would resign in January. Carney was born in the Northwest Territories and attended Harvard and Oxford. McGill University Desautels Faculty of Management Associate Professor Karl Moore has met Carney a few times.
“He went on after Harvard and Oxford, went on to work at Goldman Sachs running Goldman Canada. And then he went to the head of the Bank of Canada and then went on to become the head of the Bank of England – the first non-Brit. This is a huge compliment. I mean, London is one of the great finance cities of the world after New York. So to choose him as the first non-Brit it just speaks to the quality of the man,” Moore says. ”Then he came back to Canada. He led the Bank of Canada through very tough economic times and the Bank of the U.K., the Bank of England, through Brexit. So he’s lived through very challenging times.”
Moore says even though Carney has never been what he calls a “retail” politician, he has world class experience and is well positioned to lead Canada in a trade war.
“He understands finance and clearly understands better than President Trump, although President Trump made a lot of money as a business person so you’ve got to say hats off to that. He would be someone that would be able to have good conversations and discussions with leading people in Washington who are among the world’s top experts,” notes Moore. “So here’s someone who knows what he’s talking about, has the credibility and can make the arguments that Canada needs to make with our biggest trade partner the U.S.”
SUNY Plattsburgh Center for the Study of Canada Director Dr. Christopher Kirkey agrees that Carney’s background is economically exceptional. Kirkey expects a national election to be called soon after Carney is sworn in.
“The question now is will Mr. Carney be able to continue to build on his momentum?” ponders Kirkey. “In many respects it truly depends on how irritating, how much Mr. Trump continues to move towards tariffs against Canada. I think most Canadians see Mr. Carney as a stronger force to stand up to Mr. Trump.”
Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor Michael Cashman is unfamiliar with the new leader but has been talking with counterparts in Canada about tariffs and trade.
“What I’m hearing is Canadians are not going to retreat nor should they, to be quite frank. This is an attack on them and this is nonsensible,” Cashman states. “We are beginning to take measures like we did during the period of COVID to put ourselves in the best financial situation possible.”
President Trump escalated the trade war Tuesday, announcing that tariffs on steel and aluminum would increase an additional 25 percent to 50 percent as of Wednesday. He also threatened to substantially increase the import tax on cars effective April 2nd and again called on Canada to become the 51st state.
